Apparitions, Saints and Prophesies

Matthew 7:16 By their fruits you will know them.

I remember when the year 2000 was approaching and there were all kinds of articles, t.v. shows and religious fringe groups and the like prophesying the end times. Throughout the centuries there have been many false prophets. A the bible says
 

“If this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38-39)

So the Church takes it's sweet time in discerning allegations of miracles, prophecies, apparitions ect. and sometimes they can be frustratingly slow. So here are some vetted ones that have been officially titled as "worthy of belief." by the Catholic Church and they certainly do bear abundant fruit.

Let's examine some of the more famous ones such as Our Lady of Fatima.
In 1917, Our Lady appeared to 3 shepherd children in the small town of Fatima, Portugal. She gave them visions and prophetic messages of what was to come if people didn't repent and turn to Christ. Here some of what she predicted and these came to pass.

(1) The end of World War I which happened the following year.

(2) the emergence of Russia as a world power which would "spread its errors (including Communism) throughout the world ... raising up wars and persecutions against the Church";  At the time of this prediction Russia was the 3rd weakest country.

(3) the election of a Pope who would be named Pius XI; He was Pope from Feb 6, 1922- Feb 10th, 1939.

(Non of the secrets were made public until after 1935 and the Vatican was caught unaware by these,)

(4) the waging of a second World War following a strange light in the night sky.  On January 25, 1938, a remarkable display of aurora borealis was visible across Europe, the year before World War II began.


The Blessed Mother also promised a miracle on October 13, 1917 and gave the exact time of when it would happen. 70,000 people gathered from all around Europe to witness this miracle in the pouring rain. Then as promised what is now called the "Miracle of the Sun" occurred. This short film explains the details of what happened.



Another prediction was that two of three children, Francisco and Jacinta Marcos would not be alive on earth for much longer. They both succumbed to illness and passed away in 1919 and 1920. The Oldest of the three, Lucy Dos Santos was told she would be left on earth to carry out her mission for a long time. She became a Carmelite Nun and died in 2005 at the age of 97.

I was going to cover St. Faustina, but Fatima has taken up quite a bit of space and just deserves it's own blog post.  So, these are the things one must investigate and decide. Do they bear fruit? Fatima was abundant in fruit and it was for all to take in and still is to this day a place of many miracles. What's more, we must learn from the secrets of Fatima. Our Lady warns us of what will happen if the world continues to turn away from Jesus. She implores for us to repent and for our conversions and to pray the rosary. The consequences are dire if we don't.  Please visit this website on Fatima to learn more about the Secrets of Fatima.